


It's the little things in life that make my heart sing

by Raindropsonmyeyelashes



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternative Universe- Modern Setting, Author Castiel, Brotherly Love, Cute, Dad Castiel, Domestic, Emotional Dean, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fatherhood, Happy Ending, Kid!Fic, M/M, Nurse Dean, Warning- one small mention of suicide, no supernatural
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2018-08-27 12:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8401942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raindropsonmyeyelashes/pseuds/Raindropsonmyeyelashes
Summary: Dean Winchester works at the pediatric department of the busiest walk-in A&E centre in Kansas City and he loves his job; even when he's being screamed at and vomited on. After 5 years he's fairly sure he's seen it all- or at least he thinks that up until one ordinary Tuesday evening when Castiel Novak and his very distressed son walk through the door, ten minutes before Dean's shift ends. Will the blue-eyed, trench-coat-wearing father of one be exactly what the doctor ordered to fix Dean's lonely heart?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: there will be a small and very brief mention of suicide in a later chapter but it won't be in detail. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Despite having no actual evidence to support his theory, Dean is convinced that the clock on the wall of sick bay 12 ticks backwards. Or at least, that's what it feels like to him on days like today. It's been a fairly mundane shift so far in terms of medical almost-emergencies (cleverly named by the receptionist Meg Masters) and by 3:00pm he's only had one UCI, otherwise known as an Unfortunate Crevice Incident, which was a bead in an ear; something that's considered extremely mild in terms of UCI's, especially for him as he always seems to get the worst of them- Meg can be a real bitch if you piss her off and she still hasn't forgiven him for the one and only time he ended up on her bad side. But today is a Tuesday, the worst day of the week in Dean's opinion, although one could argue that this hatred was formed due to the fact that it's the only day in which he has to endure a 15 hour shift. 

And, as if by magic, as soon as the clock hits 3:01pm things start to go downhill. Now, Dean can understand how stressful it is when your child suddenly becomes ill or manages to get injured, he really can- he's always been quite a paternal person, especially to his not-so-little-anymore brother Sam. Cleaning up Sammy's scraped knees and giving kisses to make it all better was something Dean was a pro at in his youth. Ignoring the sharp stab of worry and your brain saying _ohmygod_ is difficult, he knows this. However, that does not give anyone the right to treat emergency workers like himself the way some people do. 80% of the time, it's not the kids that are the problem, it's their parents. Perhaps it would be different for Dean because of his job, but he thinks that if he ever has children of his own and even if he didn't work in this field, he would at least be able trust that people genuinely wanted to help. Not that he can blame some people, really, the crap that's in the news these days. The amount of times Dean has had to prize the parent off the child instead of vice versa would no doubt shock a lot of people, if he had the brain capacity to actually keep count. 

On this particular Tuesday at 3:01pm however, Dean is met with a very cute 3 year old girl with bright blonde hair called Ella who has managed to get a two inch sewing needle jammed through the top of her index finger. This isn't a new sight for Dean, he's seen this happen more than a few times and the kid is always on the same level of distress. Ella has tear marks on her cheeks and her eyes are red-rimmed, but she's sniffling rather than actually crying when she is led into the bay where Dean's waiting. 

"Hello lil' lady, what do we have here?" Dean says immediately. He watches as, whom he assumes is Ella's mother, places her on top of the examination table and sits down on a chair opposite. Dean's eyebrows crease slightly at that as most parents choose to stay as close to their child has possible, but he doesn't comment on it. For one, Ella doesn't seem bothered by this, which Dean supposes is a good thing. Ella lifts up her tiny finger and presents it to Dean in an answer to his question.

"Oh no! That doesn't look good now does it?" Dean says, in his classic voice. He's sitting on the edge of the examination table, subtly having a good look at where the needle has entered her finger. Luckily, it's only gone through layers of skin from what he can see and it hasn't gotten even remotely close to the bone so it doesn't look like an X Ray will be needed. The needle itself is thin and looks clean, so in theory it shouldn't be all that difficult to remove. 

"What's your name sweetheart?" Dean asks next, even though he already knows. Doing this more often than not helps the child to trust him more. 

"Ella Elizabeth Watson." Is the reply, in a small and shy voice. She's very well spoken and seems to display the manners that most older children these days lack. 

"Well Ella Elizabeth Watson, my name's Dean and I'm going to sort that out for you, okay?" Ella nods her head slowly and looks Dean in the eyes with complete trust, which is a good sign. It's when Dean turns around to get an alcohol wipe from the shelf that he notices her mother. On her phone. She's not paying the slightest bit of attention to him or her child and Dean's so shocked that he just stands there staring at her before he realises what he's doing. Blinking a few times, he returns to his original task- after all, despite what his gut is telling him, she could just be texting a family member or Ella's father to let them know that everything is fine. Dean reaches into his trusty toy bin once he's located the wipes and brings out a book with cardboard pages for Ella to look at while he gets to work removing the needle. 

"Here sweetheart, have a look through this if you want." Ella accepts the book with a quiet 'thank you' and eagerly opens it. Her mother is still on the phone and Dean's annoyance levels are quickly rising. 

"Mrs Watson?" He says, startling Ella with the volume of his voice- the woman in question looks up once she realises that he's addressing her. 

"It's Miss Michaels." She snaps, as if he's suppose to know that. Her mouth is pursed in a distasteful way, enhanced by the red lipstick she's wearing, and her head is titled in a manner that tells Dean that she's not at all happy about being here- she seems to be looking down her nose at him, as though he is not good enough to be in her presence. The sharp pant-suit she is wearing and expensive handbag sitting at her feet only adds to this illusion further. 

"My apologies." Dean replies, biting his tongue. "Could you tell me what happened?" 

"I was at work." She says forcefully, her fingers twitching at the base of her iPhone like she's itching to look at it again. "The nanny wrote everything down." Suddenly, she's handing Dean a piece of paper and opening the rose- gold device in her hand once more. Dean grits his teeth and turns back to Ella, who remains oblivious. The girl in front of him seems to be everything her mother is not, even at such a young age and Dean supposes that it pays to have a good nanny because this woman has clearly had no parts in raising her own daughter. 

Dean sits in the edge of the examination table once again. "Hey lovely, can I have a look at that finger?" Ella looks suddenly nervous.

"It's okay." He says calmly. "You just keep looking at that book, alright? I'm just going to give it a little wipe." Ella does exactly as Dean asks and Dean wipes the area with the alcohol wipe a few times until she starts relaxing. Then, he just pulls and the needle comes out quickly. He can't help but feel slightly cruel whenever he does this. Ella purses her trembling lips and looks down at her finger. A few tears escape from her blue eyes but Dean swoops in with a tissue to wipe them away and places a small wad of cotton wool over the wound, where it's bleeding ever so slightly. 

"There, that wasn't so bad now was it?" Dean says as Ella shakes her head again. "Can you be a good girl and hold this in place for me?" He instructs, gesturing to the cotton wool and he walks over to the shelf and picks up a bright yellow box. 

"Since you were such a brave girl, how about you chose which band-aid you want, huh?" Ella's eyes light up and she's rummaging into the box as soon as it's opened. Dean smiles when she eventually picks out one with Disney princesses on. When he puts it on the end of her finger, she looks at it intently for a moment and Dean almost thinks that she's going to change her mind. Instead, she looks up at him and says quietly 'it matches my dress'. A large grin is startled out of Dean. 

"It does indeed." He says. Her dress is the same shade of pink as the band-aid. 

"So, are we done?" Ella's mother says, suddenly, already standing up with her handbag thrown over her shoulder. 

"Not quite ma'am, I've just got a few forms to fill in." Dean says, hoping to doesn't sound too harsh, and Miss Michaels sighs loudly and almost throws herself back down on the chair. Dean thinks that she's acting more like a child than Ella is. She's back on her phone within seconds and Dean resists the urge to smack it out of her hands. 

Turning back to Ella, he says: "You can go and sit with mommy if you want?" Ella looks up at him and then back down at the book in her lap, but doesn't move. That's all the answer Dean needs; he can't help but wonder when the last time she was hugged by her mother was, if ever, and he has to bite his lip to stop himself from getting too emotional. Dean reads the note from the nanny that he had been handed, and logs how she had been fixing a hole in one of the bed sheets as instructed when Ella had come over and tried to thread some string though a needle, much like she was observing, and missed, piercing her finger instead. It's a simple story, one that Dean's heard many times. Despite this, the thrum of distaste for her mother is still strong within him. Really, he knows that it's impossible to get stomach ulcers from not speaking your mind, but honestly sometimes he thinks that he should be a test subject for that theory.

Once the two of them have left, Dean has to excuse himself for a five minute 'smoking break' in which he actually goes and cries in the bathroom, thinking of the way Ella had hugged him and her face looking back at him as she was lead away by her mother. Lisa, his supervisor, knows that he's never touched a cigarette in his life and never will, but one look at his face must have told her all that she needed to know. He has half a mind to call Sam, just to talk to him because he's a loser like that, but really he knows he wouldn't answer because he's off being a big-shot lawyer in New York with his girlfriend Jessica and doesn't have time for his over-emotional brother, not in the day at least. Distantly, Dean remembers a time in which Sam was the most emotional of the Winchester brothers, but Dean's work quickly changed that. His mom says that it's a good thing, but sometimes he isn't so sure. 


	2. Chapter 2

Dean thinks about Sam sometimes and pride swells in his chest- he thinks about how successful he's been and how much money he has; 22 years old and more cash in his bank than their little family have ever had; but he's proud, he really is because Sam has always deserved the best in life and really, Dean knew he was destined for great things the moment he could talk. And then, Dean thinks about himself. He's happy, honestly- he loves his job, loves doing what he's doing despite everything and he loves going home and seeing the fruits of his labour. His two bedroom house may not be anything on Sam and Jessica's lavish studio apartment, but he loves it because it's his. He decorated it himself, built his own furniture and made it look generally awesome. But then, there's his car- his baby- he loves that car more than he loves a lot of things and he's damn proud that he's managed to keep it in such good shape. Despite all of that, he knows there's something missing. Dean's always craved the company of other people and his mom always said that he was the most affectionate little boy she'd ever seen and he can't help but wish he had someone to share that affection with now. He longs to go home, after his gruelling 15 hour shift and say 'honey I'm home' and just sit on the couch watching TV and eating a greasy take away. And then there's the subject of kids. His mom stopped pestering him for grandkids as soon as Sam and Jessica got together and Dean came out as bisexual- he does like girls, but everyone knows he prefers men- and having kids is always something he'd seen himself doing. Benny was his last boyfriend and they were together for a year and a half- Dean thinks he saw a future with him but he isn't so sure now, the moment he found out he was being cheated on ruined all of those illusions.

That was a while ago now and he hasn't had a relationship since, no matter how hard Meg tries to set him up with people. Once, he did give in and go on a date with someone she suggested but the only detail she had given him was that he was slightly older- Dean practically got up and ran out of the restaurant once he realised that it was Mr Roman, his old maths teacher in high school- he did think he was hot when he was 16, but still. He refuses to trust Meg again after that. 

The rest of the evening was slightly better, although an eleven year old with a bruised nose after an intense round of basketball did bleed all over him. However, he does seem to be doing better than Charlie, who's had two faints, three projectile vomits and six UCI's already. Dean's known Charlie for years, and honestly she's like the little sister he's never had. Charlie's the most cheery person Dean's ever met...usually, except she's currently sulking because last week a ten year old boy with a broken finger told her that Harry Potter's lame. Dean learned pretty quickly not to criticise the things Charlie's passionate about, no matter how you truly feel about it. 

By the time 8:30pm rolls around, things have quietened down, as they always do. Dean is hoping that his last patient was 20 minutes ago: a 15 year old boy who had ridden head first into a wall on his bicycle. A bit of glue in the wound had sorted him out fairly quickly. Looking out of the window to see the opposite end the A&E department all lit up amongst the dimming sky; where the more serious emergencies come through as well as the majority of clumsy or drunk adults, always makes Dean feel significantly more calm. He may have to endure screaming children and concerned parents, but at least he's never had to pick up a drunk who's fallen asleep in their own vomit. Although, come to think about it, toddlers are comparable to tiny drunk adults sometimes. Ruby down the hall is seeing a patent at the moment, another mid-teen who's managed to burn her hand on a stove, but before long she's all done and a silence falls over the department, only broken by the occasional clickclickclick of Meg typing on the computer. Dean has slipped off his shoes, propped his feet up on the examination table and is leaning back on his chair so much that his chins probably make him look like the human embodiment of a thumb. Literally. Resisting the urge to close his eyes for fear of actually falling asleep, he starts to hum 'Carry on my Wayward Son' under his breath. Apparently, he was way more into it than he originally intended because he's only reached the second chorus when he hears a loud 'Dean!' yelled from the reception area. 

"Sorry!" He bellows back and is just about to carry on even louder, just for the sake of it, when Meg shouts for him again, sounding a lot more serious. It's not her usual tone, in fact now that he thinks about it, she probably would have already come in and slapped him if he was annoying her that much. Heaving himself up, he walks quickly to the reception desk. Unfortunately, nothing prepared him for what he was about to see. 

Standing opposite the desk and rocking a crying boy no older than 2, is single handedly the most distressed and attractive man Dean has ever seen. Dean's brain short circuits for a second as he takes in the man's dark, messy hair and 6'clock shadow, possibly the brightest blue eyes known to man and the weirdly hot trench coat, complimented with tear stains all over the collar. When those eyes turn to him with a mixture of helplessness and ohmygodpleasehelpme, Dean snaps abruptly back to reality and he already knows what he must do. 

"All right, come on, just this way. We'll get this lil' guy sorted in no time." Dean tries very hard not to think about his hand on the hot-trenchcoat-guy's back as he leads him, and whom he's assuming is his son, into sick bay 12. The man in question keeps muttering a litany of 'sorry's and 'thank you's that somehow manage to sound completely sincere in between quiet soothing noises and Dean will swear on his grandparents' graves that his knees did not buckle the moment the he heard the guy's voice. 

"Who do we have here?" Dean says calmly as soon as they reach the bay, trenchcoat-guy sitting down on top of the examination table with the small boy still clutched tightly to his chest. 

"My son, George." He says and tries to shift slightly in the hope that George will turn his head to look at Dean; something that isn't at all successful as he just buries his head into his dad's coat further. George has a green tartan blanket wrapped around him, held up only by his dad's large hand on the span of his back, and he's wearing what appears to be pyjamas. Dean hasn't seen his face yet, but the harsh, raspy breaths he's taking along with the shivering and sweat-matted hair suggests a fever. 

"Hey George." Dean says as softly as he can and touches the kid's shoulder gently. When he isn't shrugged off or met with louder cries, he continues. "Hey, buddy. You wanna do me favour and turn that head of yours so I can have a look at you? I promise I'm not gonna hurt ya', I just wanna say hello!" When George finally turns his head, after a few seconds of consideration, his dad lets out a sigh of relief. Dean's eyes flicker up towards him briefly and he finds the other man staring at him in what Dean can only describe as awe. Dean forces himself not to dwell on it. 

"Hey buddy, that's it. My name's Dean, can you tell me yours?" Dean asks, fully focused on George once again. The boy croaks out a snotty and barely-audible 'George' and Dean's suddenly met with eyes identical to his dad's. The poor boy's chest sounds clogged and raspy so Dean grabs his very stylish and masculine sparkly pink stethoscope off the shelf (Sam bought them for him as a joke, but really he thinks they're awesome) and tells George's dad exactly what he's going to do, for some odd reason. The man just nods at him, like he trusts him completely. Dean thinks that's kind of nice, for once. Dean talks to George in a slow voice and earns his trust by placing the stethoscope on top of his shirt first before lifting it up to expose bare skin and the kid just looks at him with the same slightly confused and scared, yet completely trusting look as his father. Listening to his chest, it isn't as clogged as Dean originally thought, which is a good sign. George's heaving cries have long since stopped, so Dean figures that it's the perfect time to break out his toy box. Handing George a small container of wooden blocks, Dean watches in slight amusement as he turns to look up at his father for permission before taking them out and starting to build. 

"So, Mr-?" Dean starts, looking the man in eye. 

"Novak." He replies, his voice in that permanent gruff state that suggests 'I just woke up'. "Castiel Novak. But most people call me Cas, I understand it's a bit of a mouthful." Dean's eyebrows raise slightly in amusement, definitely not expecting a name like Castiel to belong to the man in front of him. He's not sure what he was expecting, but now that he knows what his true name actually is, there's nothing in Dean's mind that would suit him better. 

"Okay Cas, could you tell me when George started to become unwell?" Dean smiles reassuringly and waits for Castiel to answer. 

"It started three nights ago, he developed symptoms of a cold. I gave him the usual antibiotics, as I have many times before, but everything just became worse." Cas looks down at his hands, clasped together in his lap, as though blaming himself for his son being poorly. He's frowning and Dean wants to straighten out those lines between his eyebrows with the brush of his lips, which heh, is weird since he literally only just met the guy. "Then he stared coughing, mostly at night and I could hear him wheezing. He couldn't sleep no matter what I tried and when his temperature started going up I panicked and came here."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You did the right thing, Cas." George definitely seems more calm now, probably because his father is more relaxed as well (at least compared to before) and Dean's reaches into one of his drawers and pulled out an ear thermometer. Cas just keeps talking, like he hasn't had anyone to speak to about all of this. Dean has noticed the absence of a wedding ring on his left finger; not like that really means anything anymore, you don't need to be married to have a kid with someone. 

"I'm sorry about all of this." Cas says, looking genuinely so. "I probably could have sorted this out at home but...well, it's just us these days. My family live in another state and my sister, Anna, is the only one who has kids but she's on a well deserved holiday and I didn't want to disturb her. I guess that's what happens when you're the youngest of six children and have had everyone looking after you from the start." 

Castiel mutters the last part of that sentence and Dean's honestly surprised- Cas seems to be as smart as they come. He's selectively ignoring the fact that he also said 'it's just us these days' because that doesn't mean anything; it doesn't mean he's interested in guys at all. While Castiel was talking, Dean managed to take George's temperature and once again it's not as bad as Dean feared it would be. He's still very warm though, so he figures it won't hurt to wash him down with a cool cloth, just to make sure. The very unhelpful part of Dean's brain tells him that spending more time with Cas is a bonus, but he chooses to do the right thing and ignore it. Mostly. 

"Hey Cas, could you take George's shirt off and pop him on your knee for me?" Castiel does just that, probably figuring out what's about to happen, and when George looks like he's about to start fussing again, Cas simply smoothes a large hand over his son's light hair; calming him down instantly. Dean hands Cas the washcloth that he'd just run under the faucet and instructs him to press it down onto George's skin whist he goes and fetches some antibiotics from the store cupboard. Dean half expects someone to jump out at him while he's walking towards the Narnia of Medicines but he realises that everyone's probably gone home. Meg's still around though, he can hear her typing. Fetching the banana flavoured crap that most kids have had at some point in their lives and walks as quickly as he can to the pharmacy, where he makes his own label since everyone else has gone home. When he gets back to the examination bay, he stops just before the break in the curtains. George appears to be talking to his dad, telling him a mixed up story of something that probably didn't happen but Cas is responding to him as though it's the word of God and completely true. Dean may not have known him long, but he can already tell that Cas is one awesome dad. When he walks in, the two are in pretty much the same position as Dean left them in but everything feels slightly calmer. George stops talking as soon as he sees him though, but Cas nudges him slightly and says: 

"Why don't you tell Dean about your adventure, George? I'm sure he'd love to hear it?" And that's all it takes for the little guy to start up again, spewing stories and ideas like a boy possessed. Cas just looks at him with a mixture of wondrous bewilderment, occasionally correcting his son if he mispronounces a word or uses it in the wrong context. He's very colloquial for such a young boy and Dean finds himself fascinated by the story, even if it is completely made up. Dean gives George a spoonful of medicine whilst he's here, which thankfully produces little more than a grimace out of him, and instructs Cas to give him one twice a day for a week. Dean tells Cas that his son has a very mild flu that will clear up soon with the help of the antibiotics and lots of rest. Dean asks if Cas would be able to stay at home from work for a few days to be with George, to which he replies that he works from home most days anyway- even better. Dean risks the urge to ask him what does. Next, he instructs Cas to keep George out of Kindergarten. 

"Oh, he's not quite there yet. Although, I have been wondering when the best time to start him would be, I mean he does go to classes... to keep him from getting bored, really and I do teach him myself when I have time-" 

Dean's surprised. "Wait, he's not old enough?" He looks at George, who looks around the two year, two and a half year mark he'd predicted. 

"He's one and a half." Cas says, smiling knowingly. "Most people think that he's older." 

"Huh." Dean muses. "You've certainly done a good job there, Cas." Dean swears down on the God that he doesn't really believe in that Cas blushes. It's only for a second, but Dean can't help but wonder if he's ever been told that he's a good father.  

"Thank you, Dean. That means a lot." Dean just smiles and watches as Cas tries to get the shirt back on a wriggling George, who's temperature has gone down significantly now so Dean feels happy to let him go home, as long he sleeps with no covers on and tries to keep as cool as possible. Cas grabs Dean's had in a handshake to say say thank you and Dean's mind whites out at the feel of Cas' skin against his.

"Thank you, Dean." Cas says again and picks up his son, who looks minutes away from dropping off to sleep. Just before they leave though, George mutters a sleepy 'I like your stethoscope Doctor Dean' and Dean thinks that he hasn't smiled this brightly since the day Sammy took his first steps. It's only when his brain comes back to him that he realises that he didn't ask for Cas' number. 


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Dean is tired. Once he got home, after enduring the teasing from Meg after Cas left, he sulked on the couch. Then he called Sam and sulked some more. Sam just accused him of being an idiot and recited one of his stupid quotes (that are totally from chick flicks) about 'what's meant to be, will be' and Dean honestly wished that he could reach through the phone and punch him, just to make himself feel a little better. He won't even try to deny that he was up most of the night thinking about Cas, which quite frankly terrifies him a bit, but he resolves to keep him out of his mind as soon as he gets to work. That plan backfires pretty quickly when Dean enters sick bay 12 and sees the pile of wooden blocks that George had left behind last night. Charlie even tries to cheer him up with with a performance of 'Sweet Transvestite' from The Rocky Horror Show, which usually would have worked but today he honestly feels like a wet lettuce. Judging by how many people have asked him if he's alright, both colleagues and patients, he looks like one too. The day (or morning, at least) actually goes by pretty quickly for once, mostly because he feels like he's sleepwalked through most of it. Fifteen minutes before lunch is due to begin, Meg calls him into reception. Expecting her to berate him for being in such a bad mood today, he's not expecting what he finds there. 

"What?" Dean says to her when he enters, trying not to sound too harsh. Meg just points in front of her, where a large bouquet of flowers is sitting, making Dean even more confused. "What?" 

"They're for you, dummy." Meg just says and rolls her eyes. Dean frowns and walks over to the flowers, expecting this to be some sort of joke. There's a note in an envelope attached to the front of the bouquet with 'Dean' written in neat handwriting. When Dean looks back at Meg cautiously, expecting her to be smirking evilly, she's not even looking at him. Dean tears off the note and opens it.

‘Thank you so much for your help last night, Dean, George and I greatly appreciate it.' It reads and Dean smiles for the first time today. Underneath it though, is what really takes his breath away: 'coffee? Castiel' accompanied by a number; Cas' mobile number; and a small scribble in pink Biro that's clearly come from George. Dean picks up the flowers, smells them like a loser (they smell good!) and covers his face out of embarrassment afterwards. He just kind of stands there, smiling to himself, and would have probably been there for a while if it weren't for the flash of a camera. Meg's holding the device in her hands and smiling. Dean frowns at her.

"Don't frown big boy, that's going on Twitter." Dean tries to protest but honestly, he doesn't think he cares; instead he just pouts and takes himself and his flowers to his sick bay. Finding something to put them in with water, he catches a glimpse of his cheesy grin and flushed face in the mirror and watches as Charlie appears behind him not long later. Dean ducks his head and refuses to look at her. Charlie looks uncharacteristically smug and takes Dean's hand to lead him to the canteen for lunch 'now that you're not being a complete and utter party pooper.' 

When Dean looks at Twitter later on when he gets home, the flowers proudly displayed on his kitchen table and the number already saved into his phone, the photo isn't actually half bad. His right hand is covering most of his face, but there's no question that he's smiling brightly- he's holding the flowers close to his face as well and his back is curved in a way he didn't even think was possible. It reminds him of how Disney Princesses look when they've just kissed their Prince Charming. God, he's such a sap. Reading over the caption Meg wrote, he can't help but smile even more: 'one of our lovely nurses receives some thank-you flowers from a very generous patient. Do you think love is in the air?' 

After contemplating it for a while, Dean throws caution to the wind and sends the photo to Sam, with the caption 'remember hot-trenchcoat-guy Cas? Look what happened today :))))))'. Sam just replies with an 'OMG DOES THAT MEAN YOU HAVE HIS NUMBER??' and lots of heart-eye emojis and Dean laughs, like the idiot he is, because today has been a very good day. 


	4. Chapter 4

Embarrassingly, almost a week has passed by the time Dean gets around to actually texting Cas. He's had his name and number sitting in his contacts (with the tie emoji next to it because he's lame) since the surprise flower delivery at work, but he's barely had time to sleep let alone look at his phone. It's like the universe has been against him this week- the cold weather coming in has almost tripled the number of medical non-emergencies coming through their doors, ranging from kids who've slipped on ice, to toddlers suffering from colds. Poorly children mean concerned parents and Dean always finds himself comforting more mums and dads than he does kids at this time of year- the stress of the impending holidays always seems to have a less than positive effect on people who are already reaching the end of their teather. Unfortunately, being surrounded by sickness everyday in the cold weather leaves no one immune and a dreaded flu virus has made its way around the staff. Charlie got it first after being sneezed on, followed by Ruby and then Garth and soon they were missing almost a third of their nurses, making the craziness seem even worse.

As a result, Dean's shifts were not only more intense, they were also longer. Usually, the extra pay would more than make up for it as he's always keen to buy his family the coolest Christmas gifts possible, but he was practically passing out from exhaustion the moment he got home and couldn't even spare a thought about texting Cas until he was already driving the next morning. The weekend is his relief and he hopes to God that Cas hasn't given up on him buy now- maybe, if he's lucky, Cas will understand. After all, he is a parent and while Dean only has to deal with children for at most 15 hours, Cas has the job full-time.

Having turned off his alarms the night before, Dean wakes up lazily around 10am. He had noticed a few years ago that his job was adding pounds to his scales, thanks to Charlie's homemade donuts and other edible thank-you gifts from patients, so since then a morning jog on the weekend and gym visits whenever he has time have been part of his routine. Admittedly, he's never going to look the same as he did back during his baseball-playing high school days (and he's certainly never going to look as good as Sammy) but it's enough to keep him fitting in his clothes. He decides to text Cas just before he leaves, a simple: " _Hey Cas, it's Dean. Hopefully you remember me from A &E when you brought George in, how is the little guy doing? No worries if life is crazy but I was hoping to take you up on that coffee offer?"_

He presses send before he can think too hard about it and leaves his phone on the table so he's not checking it every five minutes. In all honesty, he almost forgets about the text whilst he's running, but the sight of his phone when he gets back stops him in his tracks. He resolves to walk past it and instead goes directly to the shower, but he still cuts it shorter than usual and ends up standing in the middle of his kitchen wearing a towel and dripping water on the floor. All he's done so far is stare at his phone like it's going to jump out at him, so he throws caution to the wind and takes hold of it. Hoping desperately he isn't disappointed, he unlocks it. Sitting in his message inbox, is a reply from Cas- he hasn't even read it yet and he's already smiling.

" _Hello Dean."_ The message says and, weirdly, Dean imagines Cas saying it in his raspy voice. _"Of course I remember you, you helped both me and George greatly the other night- he's doing very well, thank you for asking. He keeps babbling about your pink stethoscope. I can always make time for coffee with you, Dean."_

Of course, Dean is thrilled. They text back and forth for a little under an hour as Cas informs him that it is George’s nap time, so he has an hour to himself and Dean decides that talking to Cas is much more important than his original plan of grocery shopping, anyway. They talk a little bit about everything; Cas tells him all about what he and George have been up to and he responds sympathetically when Dean mentions the current chaos in his department. Half way through the conversation though, Dean remembers that Cas had mentioned that he works from home and has a moment of panic thinking that he was preventing him from doing his job, supposing that he only gets time to do it when George is sleeping. Cas reassures him that he’s up to date with all of his chapters, and that’s when Dean learns that Cas is an author. Dean is keen to find out all he can about Cas, but he only gets as far as learning that his most successful publication was a self-help book on single fatherhood as Cas proclaims that George has woken up. They round off the texts with a promise of speaking tomorrow and arranging a time to meet for coffee. Cas signs his last text with a single ‘x’ which leaves Dean’s heart fluttering- he responds similarly with ‘:)x’ and hopes it provokes a corresponding reaction from Cas. After staring at his phone longer than he’d like to admit, Dean does eventually get around to going grocery shopping. Agnes, the little old lady who lives two doors down from him, waves at him from where she’s watering her flowers as he walks to his car and proclaims that he ‘seems very chipper’. Dean smiles and blows her a kiss that makes her blush.

In the store, Dean manages to limit himself to one cherry pie instead of three and buys the ingredients for his mom’s vegetable risotto rather than just throwing in a frozen pizza. Even though he has a habit of wandering all the aisles, he tells himself it’s just a coincidence that he ends up in the children’s toy section first. He’s almost at the end of the corridor when something pink catches his eye. It’s a stethoscope, almost identical to the one he wears at work. The one George loved. There’s no power in world that could have stopped him from picking it up and putting it in his basket, because he may have only met him once but he can already picture the look on George’s face when he gives it to him. If gets the opportunity to. The view of the book aisle from where he’s standing forces Dean to think back to the book Cas mentioned he has written. He promises he’s just going to look to see if it’s there, absolutely not buy it. After all, he has no need for it. On the walk back to the Impala, the blue covered hard-back with Cas’s name on the bottom is sitting in one of his bags as a metaphor for his lack of self control. Dean decides that he isn’t going to feel bad about it, he is simply interested in seeing how well Cas writes. He supposes that it _must_ be good if it has ‘Amazon best seller’ stamped on the front, but he’ll never know if that’s true unless he reads it. So what if he doesn’t have a kid to apply the advice to.

The next morning, Dean wakes with a start to his phone chirping. He’d fallen asleep on his couch, amongst risotto and pie dishes, with Cas’s book laying open on chapter five. He rubs his eyes to wake himself up and reaches for his phone, unashamed to admit that he smiles like an idiot when he sees who it’s from.

” _Good morning, Dean.”_ Cas writes, “ _I suppose you’re only just getting up by now without a toddler around to wake you at the crack of dawn :P George just went down for his nap, he was a little fussy today but not too bad. Hope you are well :)x”_

Dean replies immediately and explains how the cherry pie he bought for dessert had sent him into a food coma, to which Cas admits that he’s never actually eaten one. Well. Dean wasn’t going to have that. Not long after the conversation began, Cas mentions that he was planning on taking George to the pumpkin patch the following weekend, and asks whether Dean would like to come too and then they can go for coffee afterwards. Before Dean can agree however, another message comes through soon after bashfully explaining that George would have to be present for the coffee part too as Cas has no one nearby to look after him- Anna is evidently still on holiday. Dean assures him that he doesn’t mind in the slightest, and that in fact, he was looking forward to seeing how George was doing. He regrets it as soon as he sends it, thinking that it could come across as a little creepy, but when Cas tells him that George has been talking about him none stop he feels slightly better. After George wakes up and their conversation ends, Dean realises he has nothing at all appropriate to wear to a pumpkin patch that is also a date. He resolves to call Sammy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I have changed Lucifer’s gender to female in this fic, mainly so I can shorten the name to ‘Lucy’.

The following week goes by quicker than ever, as Dean’s too busy looking forward to going out with Cas and George to even notice the gruellingly long hours at work. He even manages to smile when a pus-filled boil explodes all over him. A newly recovered Charlie loudly congratulates in him on finally getting laid, to which Meg snorts over at the coffee machine. Dean just shrugs her off and lets the rumour mill whirl for once. On Friday, Dean rushes off as soon as his shift ends and hopes that some sort of clothing store is still open. Sammy had told him to buy chinos, and Dean had choked on his tomato pasta in disgust and told him that all he’d have to do was lose his hair and he’d be the spitting image of Grandpa, but Sam had insisted and Dean quietly admitted that the photo he’d sent as a reference looked pretty good. So, Dean was going to trust him this time and if Cas didn’t fancy him he knew who to blame. The cashier at Urban Outfitters gave him a weird look as he hurried in wearing purple scrubs 20 minutes before closing time, but he found what he needed pretty quickly: a pair of brown, straight-leg chinos, a blue denim shirt and some suede boot things, also in brown. Sam had bought him a navy pea coat for Christmas last year, something he was clearly very proud of when he declared that it would look ‘perfect’ with this particular outfit. As it turns out, he was right and Dean imagined that with styled hair and a scarf, he’d look pretty decent for an autumnal first date.

Despite both of their busy schedules, him and Cas have managed to keep a pretty consistent stream of messages going throughout the week. As it turns out, George has a habit of waking Cas up around he same time Dean has to leave for work and his first nap is during Dean’s break. After consulting Sam, Dean decided to bite the bullet and ask Cas if Saturday was a date. Cas had replied with a question: “do you want it to be?” and Dean cleaned his entire kitchen before he mustered up the courage to say yes. Cas’ response was even better than he’d hoped for, claiming that he was looking forward to getting to know more about Dean. The girls at work teased him mercilessly about his ‘hot date’ on the weekend, even though Dean’s pretty sure that couldn’t be further from the truth at this point, but honestly he was so happy that he couldn’t bring himself to care. In fact, he was still happy on Saturday morning when his alarm blared loudly at 7:30am. They’d decided to meet at 11am, in the park just outside the city centre. Cas had explained there was a pumpkin patch located inside, close to the small lake. This was something Dean already knew as he had memories of frequently visiting with Sammy and his grandparents as a youngster, but he couldn’t figure out a way to say that to Cas without sounding rude so he decided to just let him carry on. After all, he did find it very endearing.

Dean showered, dressed in his newly bought outfit and made some marmalade toast for breakfast. By this point Cas had already text him to say good morning, and informed him that George had been running around playing hospitals since he told him that they were going to the pumpkin patch to see ‘Doctor Dean’. Dean smiled knowingly, even more excited to give him the pink stethoscope. It was a chilly morning and Dean had been shivering whilst taking the bins out, so he packed a hat in his leather backpack (a birthday gift from Sam- the kid could clearly afford the finer things in life) along with some food, a blanket and the present for George. Cas had told him he was bringing a picnic, but Dean refused to come along without contributing to it, so he bought the nicest cherry pie he could find along with profiteroles and some cloudy lemonade. Since Cas lives closer to the park than Dean does, he figured he’d be there first so they arranged to meet in the car park. Dean’s heart was racing by the time he had pulled up on the gravel track; he could already see Cas a few rows down, standing next to a black Range Rover, holding onto a picnic basket with one hand and George with the other. Any expectations Dean had about Cas owning a flashy Ferrari were quickly squashed, as he could tell he came from money but he clearly didn’t like to flaunt it. When Cas starts pulling faces at George to make him laugh, Dean is glad Cas doesn’t know what car he has yet, as he got to witness the moment completely candidly. Cas was still wearing his trench coat, Dean was guessing it was some sort of trademark, but instead of the suit he saw last time he was wearing a green cable knit jumper underneath, mostly covered by a scarf, with matching chinos and black boots. Dean privately thought he looked beautiful.

The parking space next to Cas was empty, and Cas clearly spotted him when he pulled in. In the wing mirror, Dean could see him duck his head and smile. George was looking at the car in slight awe, but Dean was pleasantly surprised to see him let go of his father’s hand and run up to him when he stepped out. George threw his hands in the air in a request to be picked up, saying ‘Doctor Dean, Doctor Dean’ over and over again that in his excitement all jumbled together. Dean was smiling more than he ever had already, but he looked at Cas to ask his permission before picking George up. He almost, almost wishes he hadn’t looked at him in that moment, because the other man was wearing an expression on his face that was open admiration, paired with complete happiness. This man was vastly different to the panicking dad he had met in A&E a couple of weeks ago, and Dean couldn’t help his gaze wandering to his blue eyes. Eventually, after what seemed like hours of just staring each at each other, Cas nodded and Dean bent down to pick up George and rest him on his hip. The break in eye contact had clearly opened up a new wave of shyness in Cas, as he seemed to be debating whether to come closer or stay where he was. Dean wasn’t going to have that, so he broke out his winning charm and ran his fingers along Cas’ knuckles, with the hand that wasn’t holding George. He did it slowly to make sure it was okay, and when Cas didn’t pull away Dean bent down to place a soft kiss where his fingers had been seconds before. Cas blushed and smiled down at the floor, something that didn’t go away when Dean took hold of his hand properly and led him onto the grass with a quiet ‘let’s go’.

George was babbling in his ear and playing with his scarf, so Dean interacted with him whilst they walked. After a while, Dean could feel Cas’ gaze on the back of his neck so he turned around to give him a soft questioning look.

“You’re very good with him” Cas says, smiling at his son when he looked over at him, “although I’m not surprised considering your job.”

“Yeah, you get used to dealing with children all day, but I learned all of this from Sammy. Sam. He hates it when I call him that.” Dean laughs and turns to George, switching his voice to sound slightly baby-like and tickling him to produce little giggles out of him. “But I don’t care that he’s six foot four he’ll always be my baby brother, just like you’ll always be your daddy’s baby boy, huh.” George laughs harder as Dean’s tickling doesn’t relent, which in turn makes Cas laugh too and Dean decides right there and then that that’s one of the best sounds he’s ever heard. George wriggles so much that Dean has to put him down, and he walks ahead a few steps by himself. Dean thinks he looks like a miniature version of his dad in his black trench coat.

“Just the one sibling?” Cas says, carrying on their conversation from a few minutes ago.

“Yeah.” Dean replies. “I feel like I’ve spent half my life looking after that kid, but you know what they say, you miss them when they’re not around. He moved to New York last year, he’s a lawyer.” Dean can sense the pride in his own voice when he says this, and it’s true he is amazingly proud of Sam.

“You sound proud.” Cas smiles, and looks over at George quickly. Dean’s about to reply when Cas moves quicker than he’s ever seen anyone move before and scoops George up in his arms. Dean thinks back to when Sammy was learning to walk, and he remembers that feeling of knowing he was going to fall before it actually happened. Dean guesses that was Cas’ dad instincts kicking in, as Dean looks over and sees a protruding tree route right where George was just walking moments ago. As they reach the clearing leading to the pumpkin patch, George is holding on to both Cas and Dean’s hands and swinging between them happily. When he sees the pumpkins, his eyes widen and he exclaims an unbelievably cute ‘wow’ under his breath.

“What’s that, George?” Cas asks, bending down so that he is eye-level with his son. Dean just watches them, feeling like he doesn’t want to interrupt.

“Orange!” George says excitedly, jumping in the air.

“That’s right. They’re pumpkins. Can you say pumpkin?”

“Kin!” George shouts, not quite getting the hang of the ‘p’ sound just yet, but Cas ruffles his hair and tells him that it was a good try. There are several other families dotted around the outskirts of the pumpkin patch, sitting on picnic rugs and watching their kids play, so they settle in an empty spot under a big tree. George is fascinated by the orange leaves, until Cas opens the picnic basket and he all but throws a small pile of them onto Dean in his rush to get to the food.

Dean laughs “Likes his food, huh?”

“Definitely.” Cas says, amused, taking out a tray of sandwiches, a fruit salad, some pasta and several fairy cakes. Dean takes out the food of his own and Cas spies the cherry pie and smiles.

“Trust me, it’s the best pie you’ve ever eaten.” Cas laughs, but Dean swears he hears him say ‘I do trust you’ very quietly when he thinks Dean can’t hear. Cas starts spooning some tomato pasta into George’s mouth, but he only manages a few mouthfuls before he’s had enough and starts reaching for the cakes. Cas mutters ‘fine just this once’ and gives in, letting him take hold of one with bright orange icing on. As soon as he’s finished eating he’s off, darting between the three pumpkins that are closest to the picnic blanket.

“Don’t worry, he won’t go to far.” Cas says. “He always stays close enough that he can still see me. Sometimes I worry that he’s too reliant on me.”

Dean looks over at Cas and sees lines of worry creasing his forehead. He reaches for his hand, which he squeezes reassuringly, and says: “it’s normal to worry about things like that Cas, but from what I’ve seen he’s way more independent than a lot of kids his age. Seriously, you’re doing a good job. That reminds me, I have a gift for George. I couldn’t resist” Cas looks up at him warmly, surprised, and starts leaning closer. Dean’s pretty sure he would have kissed him in that moment if it weren’t for George clambering onto his dad’s lap, forcing him to turn away. Dean uses the break in the moment to reach into his bag and remove the pink stethoscope.

“Hey George, you wanna see what I’ve got for you?” Dean says, getting his attention, and George squeals in excitement as soon as he sees the present and starts exclaiming ‘open, open!’ Cas takes it out of the packet and hands it to his son, but before he can run off he says “what do you say to Dean, George?”

“Thank you!” George says and hugs Dean quickly, before running back to the pumpkins.

“You didn’t have to do that, Dean. Thank you.”

“I know, but I wanted too. And look at him, he loves it.”

“He does.” Both men smile as they watch George excitedly running around, pressing the stethoscope to the sides of the pumpkins as though checking for a heartbeat.

“What as it like?” Cas says suddenly, turning to Dean. “Only having one sibling?”

“Fun. Not very crazy. We aren’t that far apart in age so we’re closer now. I’m guessing was different for you, I remember you mentioning at the hospital that you’re from a big family.”

“Yes. Zach’s the oldest, there’s 30 years between him and I. He raised me.” Cas swallows and looks at George where he’s playing happily with a little blond-haired girl. “He took over when my parents died.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry.” Dean says, squeezing Cas’s hand in what he hopes is a comforting gesture.

“Don’t be, I was too young to remember them. They both died before I was even a year old. All my siblings had a role in raising me. Zach taught me how to read and write and balance cheques, Bal taught me how to ride a bike, Gabriel taught me...well Gabriel taught me how to misbehave.” Cas laughs when he says this, and so does Dean. He can’t imagine Cas ever getting into trouble.

“I can’t imagine that!”

“Oh trust me, I had my rebellious years like most teenagers”. He says, laughing.

“What about the rest?” Dean prompts, wanting to hear more.

“Lucy, well she taught me how to make a lot of money. That seems to be what my family is very good at these days. And Anna...Anna taught me how to be a parent.” He pauses for a second before continuing. “I suppose you’re wondering why I don’t live near to them anymore.”

“I was curious, but you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”

“I want to. There’s been some tension within my family for a while now. Alistair, a cousin of my father’s, came back into our lives after being away for quite some time and he became very close with Lucy. He got her involved with some bad people, and got her into a lot of trouble. Zach has always had enough money to get her out of certain things but at one point he’d just had enough and told her to leave. There was a massive fight and she did eventually leave. I haven’t seen her since before George was born. After that, Anna got married, but Lucy and Alistair gate-crashed the wedding. Which, well, you can imagine left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. Bal was furious. I’ve never seen him so angry, he’s always been the calmest of us all but that day he lost it with Lucy. He left after the wedding, and just didn’t come back. Last I heard he was in San Francisco. Gabriel moved to Paris to open a confectionary store. No one was surprised by that, he’s rarely seen without some sort of candy.” Cas chuckled, but Dean could tell that deep down he was hurt by what had happened.

Not really knowing what to say, Dean reached across to grasp Cas’ hand from where it was resting on his knee, hoping it would offer more comfort than his words would have been able to. Cas seemed momentarily taken aback by the gesture, but after a moment he relaxed into the touch and this time it was him who took the step to entwine their fingers. Cas didn’t talk much more about himself for the rest of the time they spent at the pumpkin patch, but he did find the time to talk about George and to ask Dean more questions about Sam; to which he shamelessly answered with enthusiasm. The time passed blissfully, their interactions seeming easy and natural with only the odd interruption from George. In fact, neither of them realised how much time had passed until George came plodding up the hill, looking tired and ready for his nap.

“I apologise, Dean.” Cas said, looking regretful that he had let the time get away from him. “It looks as though we may have to cut this date short...unless you fancy coming back to my place for a coffee? I’ve been told I make a mean espresso.”

“That would nice, Cas.” Dean replied, not wanting to cut his time with Cas short. “I don’t want to intrude though, are you sure that’s okay?”

“You’re too kind.” Cas said under his breath, almost like it was a secret that had somehow managed to escape from his lips. “But no, it wouldn’t be a problem. That is, of course, if you want to.”

“Of course I do.”


	6. Chapter 6

Dean sighs as he rolls over in bed and reaches over to where his phone had been buzzing up a storm on the bedside table just moments ago. It’s text from Sam, asking him how his date with Cas had gone. Well. 

Yesterday had been nothing short of amazing. After George had started to nod off, him and Cas had thought it best to continue their date with a few cups of coffee back at Cas’ house, where George could sleep soundly in the next room. In all honesty, Dean didn’t know what he had thought Cas’ house was going to look like, but what he hadn’t been expecting was to be stood in front of a modest country house in a part of Kansas that he had never been to before. In fact, if he hadn’t been clearly able see Cas’ Range Rover in front him the entire journey, he would’ve been sure that he’d taken a wrong turn around about when Baby’s wheels had started to scrape up loose stones and mud rather than the polished tarmac she was used to.

Cas’ house seemed to be plonked right on top of a grassy hill and was surrounded by canopies of trees in every direction- it was only the faint ‘5’ that had been painted on the mailbox at the edge of the gravel driveway that even suggested there were other houses around, as to Dean it seemed like he had walked straight into the heart of a forest. The house itself was a deep cabin-wood colour and had a large balcony stretching across the entire width of the building. When he looked up, Dean could see several large windows and a sandstone chimney pipe. Dean spared a passing thought for the inferiority of his own house as he clambered out of the Impala to follow Cas, who was carrying a sleeping George, into the building.

Cas told Dean to make himself comfortable as he ascended up a flight of stairs to put George in his bedroom. Once left to his own devices, Dean found himself unable to do much but stare at the space around him. The house had a clean design with off-white walls sporadically broken up by large glass windows. From the front door, you could walk directly in to the kitchen which, given privy to a sharp corner, opened up into a beautiful dining room. If it weren’t for the copious photo frames, the scribbled artwork on the walls or the toys littering the floors, Cas’ house would look like something straight out of a real estate catalogue. Dean found himself drawn to the kitchen, where a set of large French doors opened up to a lake.

A lake.

Cas had a lake. Dean felt a chuckle leave his lips as he stared out at the crisp blue water mere meters from his feet.

“My favourite part of the house.” Dean jumped slightly as Cas’ voice rang out behind him. When he turned around, he saw that Cas had removed his shoes and his trenchcoat, and rolled up the sleeves of his green jumper so that they reached his elbows, exposing the leather strap of his wristwatch. Dean was suddenly aware of his own coat lying heavy on his back and blushed at his own state of dress. If Cas noticed the colour of his cheeks, he didn’t mention it; instead offering to take Dean’s things to the cloakroom down the hall. Whilst he was gone, Dean took a deep breath. Things suddenly felt different between them, almost as though the air had shifted and everything felt more intense. Not in a sexual way; just _more_ in ways Dean couldn’t explain. Maybe it was because they were alone, with no George there to break-up eye contact or shift attention. Suddenly, everything felt very real.

“Now, how about that coffee I promised?” Cas said, either oblivious to Dean’s realisation or just pretending not to have noticed. 

“What have you got?” Dean asked, looking around Cas’ kitchen and thinking to himself _what haven’t you got in here?_

“A little bit of everything” Cas replied with a smile. Dean sat on the kitchen island as Cas went to work, apparently when he had said ‘coffee’ he hadn’t meant the instant sludge Dean was used to on his A&E nurse’s salary. They wound up talking about George at first and then a little bit about their jobs. Dean told Cas a story about one of his least favourite moments in A&E, making him scrunch his nose up adorably in disgust. Cas definitely caught him staring at him once or twice (okay, more like 5 times) but neither of them made bold move until Cas leant across the island to take hold of Dean’s hand, running his broad fingers over Dean’s knuckles.

At some point, they moved into the living room- a cosy space decorated with blankets and warm grey colours- and turn on the fire to ward off the chill outside. Cas didn’t break his hold on Dean’s hand the whole time. Cas seemed so relaxed in a way that Dean had yet to see until this point and Dean remembers just wanting to kiss him. But he didn’t. Dean thought he knew that Cas would freak out if he did that; that he would tell him they should slow down and stop moving too fast. At least, he thought that until Cas melted his brain to mush by wrapping his hand around the back of his neck and kissing him like a man starved for air. Cas’ lips felt like fire and ice all at once; the burn of his lips cooled by the swipe of his tongue against his teeth. When they pulled back, panting with their noses pressed together, Cas said: 

“Sorry. I’ve been known to make rash decisions.” 

Dean had laughed and said: “they say the same about me”, which is all he could get out before Cas kissed him again. 

It felt like both hours and minutes when the baby monitor forced them to break apart for the second time. Dean was still trying to gain his composure as Cas straightened himself out, trousers clinging awkwardly to his skin the same way that Dean’s was. That was all the kissing they manage to fit in, George’s newly-restored energy keeping Cas completely on his toes. Dean heads off soon after, not wanting to be in the way, but he leaves with a promise of taking Cas and George out for meal in the next few days. Cas kisses him against the doorframe whilst George is occupied pretending to make soup with a wooden kitchenette.

Dean gets halfway home before he realises _fuck_ he really, really likes this guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The house I used as inspiration for Cas’ house: https://goo.gl/images/syGXdN
> 
> The house I used as inspiration for Dean’s house: https://goo.gl/images/sdn64i
> 
> Also just a quick disclaimer: I’m not from America, nor have I ever been to the country, so I’m almost certain that my descriptions of places in Kansas are wildly inaccurate. Sorry!


	7. Chapter 7

Before either of them realise it, Dean and Cas have been dating for a month. Honestly, Dean feels like he’s been on cloud nine since the day Cas kissed him on his couch and things just keep getting better and better. Admittedly, they’ve both been pretty busy- George has been keeping Cas on his toes as usual, the territory Dean knows comes with having a kid, and the cold weather refusing to let up has left the A&E department as busy as ever. Although he’ll never tell Cas this, Dean’s been taking longer shifts so that he has enough money to take Cas (and George) out to some really nice places. He knows Cas has money; money that he’s no doubt worked very hard for, but somewhere deep down Dean wants to do those things for him because, by the sounds of things, Cas doesn’t seem to have ever had someone there to treat him like he truly, honestly deserves to be treated. Dean has been steadily learning little things about Cas’ life over the past month but it’s clear that, whilst Dean has been as open as ever about his family, Cas is keeping something to himself. Cas never seems to mention George’s other parent, so Dean is beginning to think whatever Cas is hesitant to tell him has something to do with that.

Despite their busy schedules, they’ve still managed to see each other fairly regularly and keep up a stream of frequent text messages. Dean kept his promise of taking Cas and George out for meal; although he did ring Sam in a panic because really he had no idea where to take them. Sam had suggested the small, family-owned Italian diner that their grandparents used to take them to in the holidays and Dean really should give Sam some sort of prize because that was perfect. The diner was fairly kid-friendly, and George had loved the colouring book that the waitress brought over as soon as they sat down. George being pre-occupied with the crayons meant that Cas and Dean had a chance to talk and Dean had finally plucked up the courage to ask Cas to be his boyfriend. Cas had held Dean’s hand across the table and said _of course, Dean_. Dean is unashamed to admit that he smiled like a goon for the rest of the day. George had a field day with spaghetti, getting it all over his clothes and in his hair- Dean had asked Cas if he could take a picture, because quite frankly it was the cutest thing he’d ever seen. Cas eventually took George to the bathroom to clean him up a bit, and Dean had used their absence to pay for the meal. Up at the counter, Dean was met by Mama Gianna, the owner of the diner who had recognised Dean the moment he had walked in. Mama Gianna is friends with his grandma and she had always given Dean and Sam free ice cream whenever they came to visit as kids. Mama Gianna scolded Dean for not coming to see her in years with the same breath she used to tell him how cute his son was. Dean didn’t correct her, and had a private moment of heart-surging _hope_ that he’d never admit to anyone.

A week after the meal, Dean took Cas and George to the aquarium. George had loved it more than either of them were expecting, excitedly running around pressing his face against the glass to watch the fish swim around. Dean snapped an awesome picture of Cas holding George up to a wall-length tank filled with stingrays and he only hesitated for a moment before making it his lock screen. Cas had bought George a small plushy angelfish from the gift shop, which he had played with during the car ride home until he fell asleep in the back of the Impala, where they had managed to fit his car seat. This prompted Cas to lean over the console to kiss Dean silly as soon as they pulled up to his driveway, ultimately leading Cas to invite Dean in. Cas had hesitantly agreed to let Dean cook dinner for them once George was settled for his nap, despite arguing that it was his house so he should do it, but Dean just planted a soft kiss (followed by more, and more and more) on his lips to silence him. They hadn’t gone further than kissing yet, and probably wouldn’t for a while, but Dean had noticed that it became harder to pull away each time. Dean left that evening with a belly full of mac n’ cheese and a colourful picture George had drawn of the three of them standing next to the Impala. He put it on his fridge as soon as he got home.

Cas and George had even surprised Dean at work. It had been a particularly long and hectic morning and Dean had sent Cas a Snapchat of himself with a pained expression on his face (thank you Sammy for showing him how to use that) during his ten minute break. Unbeknown to him at the time, Cas had driven himself and George down to see him during his lunch hour. Seeing them was worth all of the teasing he now had to endure from his colleagues.

Despite all the time they’ve spent together so far, Cas is still yet to come over to his house; which is why the question that’s been on his lips since last week hasn’t materialised yet. Thanksgiving has always been a family affair for Dean- his mom always cooks up a delicious storm and Sammy’s bringing Jessica over for the second year in a row. Which is why Dean really wants to invite Cas and George, but he’s hesitant because they’re not even close to being at a point in their relationship where they’re ready to meet each other’s families. But, the desire to invite him only intensified as he realised Cas and George would be spending Thanksgiving alone. Last year, Cas had told him that they spent it with Anna, but this year they’re going to spend it with her husband’s family which means Cas has to give it a miss. A week before Thanksgiving, Dean text Sam.

_Cas & George have no one to spend Thanksgiving with. Should I invite them to ours? What would you do? - D_

_Well first I would ask them - S_

_Smartass, be serious for a second tho - D_

_Alright, well yes if it was me I’d invite them but you do need to ask if they’d be comfortable coming with all our family there. Cas might be okay with spending Thanksgiving alone - S_

_Okay, thanks Sammy - D_

Dean spent a few days pondering what Sam had said, and then decided to throw caution to the wind and just ask Cas about it. He broached it one day when they were walking to the park, all wrapped up tightly in coats, hats and scarves; George running ahead kicking orange leaves. They were holding hands, something that they had never done in public before, and Dean’s skin was warm against Cas’ chilly fingers.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something” Dean says, looking down at his feet.

“What is it?” Cas replies, keeping one eye on George and one eye on Dean.

“You can say no, but since you said you’d be spending Thanksgiving alone, I just wanted to say that the option to come and celebrate with my family is there if you want it.”

“That’s very kind of you, Dean” Cas begins, and Dean is fully preparing himself for a polite decline when he continues “I think George and I would like that very much. Are you sure your family wouldn’t mind us being there?”

Dean smiles. “I’ll talk to them, but I’m certain Sammy’s not been able to keep to keep his mouth shut about us so I’m sure mom is already dying to meet you.”

Cas chuckles and holds his hand tighter. Dean resolves to call his mom as soon as he gets back home.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanksgiving came around quickly after that and Dean had been right, his mom was already excited to meet Cas and George. She did berate him about not telling her about their relationship straight away and Dean honest to God did feel bad that she’d had to hear all about it from Sammy, but she seemed to forgive him quick enough; giving him strict instructions to tell Cas and George that they were most welcome to come and visit whenever they wanted.

Despite this, Dean knows that Cas is nervous about meeting his family- after all, Dean supposes that he’d be just exactly the same if it was the other way around. Dean had already told him who was going to be there: his mom and dad, Sammy and Jessica, Uncle Bobby and his grandparents, Samuel and Deanna. Cas had chuckled at this, but yes it was true: he was named after his grandma and he takes great pride in telling everyone that Sam would have been called Samantha if he’d been born a girl. Uncle Bobby wasn’t technically their uncle, but he had been their dad’s partner in the police department for over thirty-five years, up until the both retired last year. They’ve been through so much together that they might as well be brothers.

They’d decided to take the Impala, so when the day came around Dean drove to Cas’ house to pick them up. Cas answers the door after the second knock and Dean is momentarily stopped in his tracks by how gorgeous he looks. He’s wearing a soft-looking grey button down shirt with a navy blue jacket over the top, accompanied (of course) by his signature trench coat, blue jeans and tan coloured shoes. Cas seems to be looking at Dean with the same level of intensity, but Dean knows that his grey jumper-over-a-white-shirt combo is nothing compared to what Cas is wearing. The moment is broken by George making an appearance by weaving in between Cas’ legs and reaching up to Dean, who bends down to pick him up. He looks incredibly cute in his burgundy jumper, but the minute Cas holds up his coat he makes a break for it down the hall.Cas sighs and tells Dean that this has been going on for quite some time. Dean lets out a small chuckle and gives Cas a quick kiss, leaving him to it and heading back outside to pack the car. Dean’s just finished getting the car seat secured in the back when Cas walks out with George, who finally has his coat and hat on. Apparently the compromise was letting him bring the pink stethoscope and angelfish teddy into the car with him.

The drive is relatively uneventful- after all, it’s only a 35 minute journey even in bad traffic and there’s (thankfully) no ice on the road. Dean notices that Cas keeps ringing his hands together in what appears to be a nervous gesture, but Dean reaches over the gearstick at a red light to lace their fingers together. Cas seems significantly calmer by the time they pull up to Dean’s family home. Dean can see Sam’s rental car parked outside already and his brother must spot him from the window because before he can even step out of the Impala fully, he has an arm full of baby brother. Well, more like Sam has an arm full of him because, dammit, there’s no way in hell he can pretend to be the same size as him now- the kid’s grown at least an inch and a half since the last time he saw him. His hair has grown too and Dean makes a fond joke about it being long enough to put in a ponytail, but Sam just smacks him playfully up-top the head and tells him to hurry up and introduce him to Cas and George.

Dean walks over to the passenger door and opens it for Cas, who climbs out after Dean offers his hand. If he’s a little embarrassed by Dean’s courteous behaviour, he doesn’t comment on it. Cas walks over to Sam and introduces himself like he wasn’t rattled with nervous moments before, and Dean smiles at their apparently easy exchange before moving the Impala seat back to get George out. George was playing with the angelfish against the window, but he stops when he catches sight of Sam.

“I know bud,” Dean says, “he’s big, ain’t he? But don’t worry, he’s a giant softie”.

At some point, Jessica had joined her boyfriend outside and Cas is engaged in a handshake with her when Dean brings George over to join them. George seems a little overwhelmed to begin with, burrowing is face in Dean’s neck from where he’s situated against his hip, but Dean just turns to him and says:

“I know buddy, there’s lots of new faces; but you’re gonna be brave, right?” George lifts his head to look over at his father, who gives him a warm smile in return, before he reaches out with the pink stethoscope to press it against Sam’s chest. If Sam’s surprised at the gesture he doesn’t show it, instead reaching over to tickle George, who laughs and wiggles wildly in Dean’s grip until he puts him down. George is so tiny compared to Sam; barely even up to his kneecap; which makes it all the more amusing when he all but tries to attack Sam with the stethoscope. Dean tells him he should press it to Sam’s head to check if he has a brain, but his brother gives him a look that makes George laugh harder, setting them all off. Dean doesn’t even realise that they’ve been standing in the driveway all this time, until his mom yells: _are you lot going to stay out there all day or are you going to come in and help me with the turkey?_

Sam and Jessica go straight into the living room, but Dean, Cas and George linger in the hallway. George seems hyper-aware if his new surroundings, holding onto Cas’ hand like a vice and hiding behind his left leg. The first thing Dean does is hug his mom, because Christ he’s missed her- she looks the way she always does; blonde and beautiful and wearing a blue floral apron. Dean introduces Cas to his mom with his hand on the small of his back and Cas reaches out his palm and says _it’s nice to meet you Mrs Winchester_ , to which his mom says exactly what he expected her to say: _please, call me Mary._ She takes their coats and hangs them up in the cloak room, making everything feel infinitely more homely, before leading them into the kitchen. John and Bobby are sat the island, drinking beer and no-doubt talking about politics. They look up when Mary exclaims: “now now boys no politics in the kitchen, you know the rules, we have guests”.

“Dean!” John says and gets up out of his seat, walking over to where Dean’s stood to give him a quick hug and pat on the back. “It’s good to see you son.” Dean returns the sentiment and salutes Bobby when he tips his beer at him from where he’s sitting. His dad hands him a drink too, but he just shakes his head and says “I’m driving”. John looks at him like he’s got two heads before he becomes aware of the fact that his son has brought guests with him. If Dean had been paying attention, rather than watching his mom directing George onto a stool to help mash potatoes for their dinner, he would have seen the look of shock on his boyfriend’s face and the double take both his dad and Bobby did when they met eyes with Cas.

________________

Soon enough they all found themselves sitting at the table, stuffed to bursting point with Thanksgiving dinner. After meeting his dad and Bobby, Cas had met his grandparents, who proceeded to absolutely coo over George. In fact, everyone had and George, quite frankly, had been loving the attention. Cas had joked that he wasn’t ever going to want to leave and Dean thought that, as far as family introductions went, that meant this couldn’t have gone any better. The dinner was amazing as always and George had made an absolute mess of himself. Cas had been sheepish and had apologised, but Mary had told him not to worry as her carpets would never be the same after having two boys of her own and proceeded to tell several very embarrassing stories. Dean had excused himself halfway though to go and get George’s spare clothes out of the car.

“Jesus!” Dean jumped, as he turned around after closing the trunk of the Impala to find Sam standing right behind him. “For someone so big you sure as hell can sneak up on a guy!”

Sam laughs and says “so they say” and then just hugs him. Dean’s a bit surprised but Sam’s always been a sap so he hugs him back with just as much vigour.

“What was that for?” Dean says as soon as they part.

“What, I’m not allowed to hug my brother now?” Dean just gives him a look. “Okay fine, I’m just happy for you Dean, that’s all.”

“You couldn’t have just said that?”

“Shut up.” 

Dean smiles and pats his brother on the back. “Thanks Sammy.” Sam must catch him averting his gaze down to the tiny clothes in his hand, because the next thing that comes out of his mouth is:

“You’d make a great dad, Dean”. Yeah, Dean thinks. He would.

After that heart-to-heart, they eventually make it back into the house and Dean spends half an hour chasing George around trying to get him dressed again, purposefully ignoring the looks his mom keeps giving him from the other side of the room. He knows she’d pretty much given up on getting grandkids from him once he’d come out, so this must feel like the ultimate win for her. After he’d finally succeeded in changing George’s clothes, he asks after Cas, who’d been gone that entire time. His grandma tells him he’s in the kitchen, so he grabs a few dishes to make himself useful and heads over there. He gets just outside the closed door when he hears Cas and his dad speaking. A smile begins to form on his lips, pleased that his boyfriend and his father seem to be getting on so well, until he actually hears what they’re saying.

“I never thought I’d see you here, Cas. If I’d have know you were the one my son was bringing back here I’d have been more prepared.”

“I had no idea John. I didn’t even connect the last name to you.”

“George has gotten big, you’ve been doing a good job. I should’ve gotten him something.”

“No. You’ve already done enough for me. You went beyond the line of duty and were there for me at some of the worst moments of life, and now your son has made these few months the best I’ve ever had.”

Cas sounds fond during that last confession, and Dean would smile if he wasn’t so confused. _What the hell is going on?_


	9. Chapter 9

“I didn’t want my old ghosts to come and haunt you too. That’s why I hadn’t told you everything about me. When I’m with you, I can just be Cas...without any of the bad stuff.” That’s what Cas had said to him when he had asked about the conversation in the kitchen. Dean had waited for a few moments outside the door, truly not knowing what to do. He hadn’t known whether to go into the room and demand answers, or to just carry on as normal, as though he hadn’t heard a thing. Dean was just thinking to himself that he didn’t know how long he could go on pretendinglike he hadn’t just heard about a big portion of Cas’ life that he deliberately hadn’t been told anything about, when Cas emerged from the kitchen, taking the choice away from him. It must have been obvious from the look on his face that he’d heard everything they’d been saying because Cas was wearing an expression of guilt on his face when he grabbed his hand, and led him outside to the back garden.

“I’m gonna be here for all the bad stuff, Cas. I’m not going anywhere.” Dean had said eventually, smiling softly at Cas and kissing him on the forehead, hoping that it was enough to prompt the other man to be open with him. Whatever it was that was going on, and how it involved his dad, only made Dean more eager to offer support to his boyfriend.

“In my youth, I dated a boy called Brad.” Cas began, sagging his shoulders slightly as though he was ashamed of his past. Dean kept his hand firmly on Cas’ shoulders in what he hoped was a supportive gesture. “He was just a normal boy, perhaps more so than me, and we were young and reckless and had no inhibitions. I had never been exposed to homophobia, I never thought that anyone would have a problem with our relationship because I was so naive. The only reason I didn’t tell my family was because I liked having something to myself after being forced to share pretty much everything else. One day, Brad took me out on a date. We went to a pizza place not far from were I lived. It was lovely and very romantic. When I got home, I found my brother Zach in the kitchen with my cousin. He was older than Zach and helped him run his several businesses; I’d only met him a few times but he looked at me with such disgust...I’ve never seen a look like that on someone’s face. Zach took me aside and screamed at me, told me that our cousin had seen Brad and I in the restaurant and had seen us kiss outside. He told me that I would bring shame on our family if I carried on and he told me that God hated me. To my knowledge, my parents had been very religious but I had never... connected to in it the way that my other siblings did. But it still stung. Zach demanded that I break up with Brad, so I did.” 

Cas was now looking forward across the garden. The sky was starting to turn dark, despite it being fairly early in the evening, and it was beginning to turn chilly. Cas didn’t seem to notice, and neither did Dean, his skin clammy from the weight of Cas’ confessions.

“For years I felt so alone. I had been told that I was wrong, but I just couldn’t understand why. It got to a point where I felt so alone in my own home that I went to a different bar every night and got so drunk that I fell asleep on the streets, just so I didn’t have to go back and face it all.” Cas continued, “Your dad found me once, I don’t remember where I was or what I had been drinking, but he picked me up and tried to drive me home. I had no fight left in me, the only thing I could do was tell him that I had no home to go to anymore. I woke up the next morning on a couch in the police station, with your dad nodding off at his desk. He’d listened to me when I told him I didn’t want to go home and instead of dumping me in a cell, he’d just let me sleep.”

Dean felt a feeling of pride swell up in his chest. His dad was a good man, and an even better cop. He didn’t get a chance to voice that though, because Cas continued talking- like he couldn’t stop now that he had started.

“I don’t think I even spoke to him much, except to say thank you, but eventually he did drop me off back at home. He must have known how unhappy I was, because he kept coming over to check on me. He only stopped when Zach found out and I told him not to come back again. A few months later, Zach suddenly declared that he’d found someone for me.” Cas made air quotes with his fingers as he spoke. “I had no idea what he was talking about until I was introduced to Ellie. She was very pretty, but the first thing I noticed about her was the haunted gaze in her eyes that was the same one I saw in my own every time I looked in the mirror. Ellie and I became close friends over the next few years, but we were never really lovers. We were honest with each other- she knew I was gay and I knew that she was in love with another man, a man she could never have. But it was hard being close to someone when you knew that everyone expected you to get married.”

Dean frowns, but lets Cas carry on anyway.

“One day, we got drunk and ended up having sex. It wasn’t magical or mind-blowing; we were both so starved of any kind of loving touch that we just got lost in it. Then, a few months later, she tells me she’s pregnant. She was distraught, she didn’t want to carry on with the pregnancy but I begged her to. If there was one good thing to come out of us being forced together, I thought it was that. She agreed, but only if I had full custody once the baby was born. So I did everything I could to make sure my son would have a great life with me. Anna even helped me get a flat that had an extra bedroom in it just for him.”

Cas suddenly looks down and grabs Dean’s hand. In his free palm, he’s clutching a charm on his house keys that contains a picture of him and George, when he appears to be only a few days old. Silently, Cas starts crying.

“Ellie became depressed during the pregnancy, and it only got worse once George was born. She disappeared the day after he arrived, I had no clue where she was and I didn’t find out until 4 months later, when your dad knocked on my door again. They had found Ellie. She had taken her own life.”

Cas lookes at Dean then, an unwavering seriousness in his eyes, despite his tears, that makes Dean resist the urge to wrap him up in an embrace. “It was hard, Dean. Especially knowing that one day you’d have to explain to your son what happened to his mother. I don’t regret him for a minute, but I do I regret what happened to Ellie and I wish that things could have been different for her. Your father helped me greatly, and I meant what I said in the kitchen. You have made these last two months the best I’ve ever had, Dean Winchester.”

Dean kisses him then, harder than he ever has before and pours every bit of emotion in his body into it. Dean had always been better with actions than words, so he hopes that Cas would know what he means to say with the kiss. He’s sure that Cas feels it when he starts to sag against Dean’s body, the weight of knowing that he is cared for and supported simply proving too much for him in that moment.

Later, they when they were driving back to Cas’ house, George fell asleep in the car. He was completely tired out from missing his nap, and from all the fuss he’d been getting off Dean’s family. Usually Cas would try to keep him awake so that he slept through he night, but honestly, he didn’t have the heart or energy to do that this time. George looked so peaceful, the pink stethoscope and angelfish teddy clutched in both hands, his head lolling to the side with the motion of the car. Cas couldn’t help but be so thankful for in Dean as he watched him unbuckle his son and carry him into the house. Dean had made to leave after handing George over to him, but Cas had clutched his hand and said _stay, please_. Dean knew, in that moment, that he’d never be able to deny Cas anything; so he stayed. He put on a movie and made some snacks, and they sat there for hours just basking in each other’s company. Then, they had gone to bed and laid down next to each other for the first time.

That night, Dean didn’t know it, but Cas had slept better than he had done in a very, very long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it’s finally finished! Thank you all so much for reading x


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